muskrats!

Hi RGB,
Glad to see you 'back'.

Are you going to do rip rap around the sides?

I'm wondering if setting up a pre-emptive trap will catch them before they
dig.... or if they'll leave the trapped one behind and go off and dig anyway?

Muskrat trapping is usually legal most anywhere, especially if a state has a
sizeable cranberry crop.

Your fish and wildlife service ought to be able to help.

Let us know what happens!

k30a

K30a,

Muskrats are a fluke due to my/our country garden and about 10" of rain
after the 10" of snow melted this spring. They dug, they saw, they
conquered, and they moved on! I raised my annual number of toadpoles this
spring in the upper stream system, before our stream went to crap, as usual.
Point is, don't build a 400' stream system (with 7 ponds along the way)
unless you're planning on making a career of it. Mice eat the edges (under
the bridges when the pumps are turned off) and when the pumps are turned
back on, there are leaks everywhere because of the lowered water level and
the mice gnawing to the water's edge.

RGB
Zone 5 OH


"K30a" wrote in message
...

Hi RGB,
Glad to see you 'back'.

Are you going to do rip rap around the sides?

I'm wondering if setting up a pre-emptive trap will catch them before they
dig.... or if they'll leave the trapped one behind and go off and dig
anyway?

Muskrat trapping is usually legal most anywhere, especially if a state has
a
sizeable cranberry crop.

Your fish and wildlife service ought to be able to help.

Let us know what happens!

k30a

Mice too!
That's not fair!


k30a

In PA it's illegal to kill muskrats because they are "fur/pelt" animals. So
you need a trapping license and can only do it during the trapping season.


"K30a" wrote in message
...

Hi RGB,
Glad to see you 'back'.

Are you going to do rip rap around the sides?

I'm wondering if setting up a pre-emptive trap will catch them before they
dig.... or if they'll leave the trapped one behind and go off and dig
anyway?

Muskrat trapping is usually legal most anywhere, especially if a state has
a
sizeable cranberry crop.

Your fish and wildlife service ought to be able to help.

Let us know what happens!

k30a

Sam wrote In PA it's illegal to kill muskrats because they are "fur/pelt"
animals

That's a weakness of the internet. 50 different states, a couple dozen
countries on rec.ponds and some of us could get arrested for what others say go
ahead and do! ;-)







k30a

You should certainly be able to use a hav-a-heart trap, without a trapping
license, as long as you don't kill the critter. Where you may encounter a
problem is when you go to release the animal... you need to find out where
you can release it, where (if) it is allowed.
Check with your local DEC/agricultural office if you are concerned with your
area's legal requirements to be safe.
Happy ponding,
Greg


"K30a" wrote in message
...
Sam wrote In PA it's illegal to kill muskrats because they are
"fur/pelt"
animals

That's a weakness of the internet. 50 different states, a couple dozen
countries on rec.ponds and some of us could get arrested for what others
say go
ahead and do! ;-)







k30a

whatever state you are in you should first check with your local
Conservation officer or game warden. Muskrats as stated on an earlier
post are furbearers who can usually only be taken by licensed trappers
during open trapping season. However, local CO's may often give
exceptions to animals causing damage to property. If you don't know
how to get ahold of a Conservation officer, call your local police or
sherrif's dept.
Better to be safe than get a ticket for taking an animal out of season
or without a license.
On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 23:23:01 GMT, "Gregory Young"
wrote:

You should certainly be able to use a hav-a-heart trap, without a trapping
license, as long as you don't kill the critter. Where you may encounter a
problem is when you go to release the animal... you need to find out where
you can release it, where (if) it is allowed.
Check with your local DEC/agricultural office if you are concerned with your
area's legal requirements to be safe.
Happy ponding,
Greg


"K30a" wrote in message
...
Sam wrote In PA it's illegal to kill muskrats because they are
"fur/pelt"
animals

That's a weakness of the internet. 50 different states, a couple dozen
countries on rec.ponds and some of us could get arrested for what others
say go
ahead and do! ;-)







k30a

whatever state you are in you should first check with your local
Conservation officer or game warden. Muskrats as stated on an earlier
post are furbearers who can usually only be taken by licensed trappers
during open trapping season. However, local CO's may often give
exceptions to animals causing damage to property. If you don't know
how to get ahold of a Conservation officer, call your local police or
sherrif's dept.
Better to be safe than get a ticket for taking an animal out of season
or without a license.

Any wildlife that is wreaking havoc, or can damage (or is causing
damage to) property can be taken out of season with no license needed.

The CO, or DNR, person will tell you this. You do need to contact them
though before doing this.

We are going through this right now with muskrats that moved into our
livestock pond last fall. 1 has been caught so far.

I had a muskrat problem years ago. He destroyed the stone path around
the pond by digging underneath it, then dug trenches into the lawn. I
tried trapping the beast to no avail. After reading about their
habitat, I drained the pond, removed most of the vegetation, and most
importantly removed the island in the middle of the pond (that was
where the muskrat had his home). Refilled the pond and no more
muskrat! We have hawks in the area that like to hunt muskrats.